Clinical Director - Medi-Cal

Job Summary:

The Clinical Director for Medi-Cal is responsible for leading, overseeing, and continuously improving CHC’s Medi-Cal clinical services to ensure effectiveness, timeliness, efficiency, safety, equity, and regulatory compliance. This role ensures the delivery of high-quality, culturally responsive care across diverse populations, including variations in culture, gender identity, and socioeconomic status. The Clinical Director promotes strong community partnerships, advances evidence-based and biopsychosocial models of care, and supports interdisciplinary collaboration across clinical programs. This position carries full fiscal and clinical accountability for all outpatient Medi-Cal services and programs. The successful candidate will demonstrate excellent written and verbal communication skills, strategic leadership, and the ability to manage complex clinical systems. This role requires the capacity to set clear goals, implement structured systems, manage change effectively, and ensure compliance with Medi-Cal, county, state, and federal requirements. The position reports to the Vice President of Clinical Services.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

Clinical Leadership and Quality

·        Lead the planning, delivery, and improvement of outpatient Medi-Cal services in Santa Clara with a focus on underserved children and families.

·        Lead continuous improvement of clinical quality, service outcomes, and quality assurance processes in alignment with established clinical standards, best practices, and regulatory requirements.

·        Provide clinical supervision and consultation to licensed and unlicensed clinical staff, including guidance on complex cases, treatment planning, and clinical decision-making, in accordance with California Board of Behavioral Sciences and Board of Psychology requirements.

·        Provide a limited number of direct clinical service hours, as operationally appropriate.

·        Collaborate with the VP of Clinical Services and Clinical Services Leadership Team to develop new clinical programs and community outreach initiatives that align with CHC's strategic priorities and promote evidence-based care.

Program Operations, Finance, and Compliance

·        Oversee daily clinical operations, staff productivity, staffing coordination, and workflows to improve service delivery, efficiency, and effective use of resources, including health information technology.

·        Manage program budgets and financial performance in collaboration with the VP of Clinical Services, other Clinical Directors, executive leadership, and operations staff.

·        Oversee Medi-Cal contracts and serve as CHC's liaison to Santa Clara County behavioral health departments.

·        Partner with the Compliance Director to ensure regulatory compliance, manage clinical and legal risks, and oversee annual Medi-Cal audits.

Staff Leadership and Organizational Collaboration

·        Supervise program managers and clinical staff, including recruitment, hiring, professional development, performance evaluation, and management.

·        Build and maintain partnerships with community providers, neighboring jurisdictions, Stanford University, and other organizations to support coordinated services and collaborative programs.

·        Participate in CHC's Program Leadership Team, collaborate with organizational leaders to implement strategic priorities, prepare staff for changing requirements, and support Board of Directors activities as requested.

·        Perform other related duties as assigned.

Education and Qualifications:

·        Current California licensure as a psychologist (PhD or PsyD), Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW), or Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) (required). Must maintain active, unrestricted California licensure in good standing throughout employment.

·       Completion of professional-level clinical training with at least five (5) years of post-licensure clinical experience.

·        Minimum of two (2) years of progressively responsible administrative and managerial experience in Medi-Cal, other state Medicaid programs, or comparable publicly funded behavioral health systems, preferably including supervision of licensed clinicians.

·        Significant experience providing services to children and families in interdisciplinary behavioral and developmental health settings, with a preference for experience in community mental health programs serving historically marginalized, underserved, and culturally diverse populations.

·        Demonstrated experience in clinical program development, operational planning, and change management, with an emphasis on collaborative leadership, effective team decision-making, and adaptability to evolving organizational needs.

·        Demonstrated experience managing program budgets and strong project management skills.

·        Experience collaborating with public agencies, health systems, and community partners.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

·        Advanced knowledge of mental and behavioral health standards of care, including legal, ethical, and regulatory requirements, compliance, and risk management.

·        Strong knowledge of Medi-Cal, Medicaid, or comparable publicly funded behavioral health systems, including contracting, billing, clinic documentation, and service requirements.

·        Knowledge of standardized behavioral health outcome measures, including the Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths (CANS), Pediatric Symptom Checklist (PSC-35), or comparable tools, and experience applying clinical research principles and continuous quality improvement (CQI) practices to evaluate outcomes and improve service quality.

·        Demonstrated ability to mentor, coach, and develop program managers and clinical leaders.

·        Strong interpersonal, written, and verbal communication skills, with the ability to engage staff, organizational leadership, boards, and external stakeholders.

·        Familiarity with academic clinical environments serving publicly funded populations and community-based nonprofit governance.

PPhysical Requirements & ADA / FEHA Compliance:

·        Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of this role in accordance with the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

·        An employee in this position may be required to occasionally lift, move and/or set-up stacks (of up to 10-20 pounds) of documents such as training binders or other training materials, lap-top computers, in-focus projectors, flip charts and other materials required for meetings and presentations. Employee will also be required to work for extended periods of time at a computer.

·        As an exempt position, this role is expected to meet operational needs, which may require flexible scheduling and regular onsite presence.

Contact with Others:

·        Extensive interpersonal interaction with staff, senior leadership, board members, community partners, and external agencies.